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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
One of the major issues that will occupy the front burner in the House of Representatives in 2024 is the reform of the electoral process, ahead of the next general elections.
The speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, at the resumption of the House, on January 30, says electoral reforms will be one of the priorities of the Green chamber in 2024. Abbas, while welcoming members back from the Christmas holiday, had expressed concerns on conflicting judicial pronouncements on the last general elections.
According to him, “recent data shows that 75% of gubernatorial elections conducted by INEC in 2023 ended up in the Supreme Court. A significantly higher percentage of gubernatorial, State, and National Assembly elections was litigated to the appellate level. Like all Nigerians, we are worried about the varying and conflicting judicial pronouncements which can disrupt our democratic process if not properly and swiftly addressed. “
Abbas had last December posited that “The outcomes of elections should be decided at the Polling Unit and not in a Court Room. The over-judicialisation of electoral outcomes has greatly undermined public confidence and could erode the legitimacy of political leadership if not quickly and adequately addressed.”
Consequently, he stated that “of immediate concern to us are electoral reforms to address grey areas in the 2022 Electoral Act. The purpose is to ensure that future elections are free, fair, and credible elections that truly reflect the people’s will.”
The House had identified electoral reforms as one of major items in its 8-point Legislative Agenda. According to the legislative agenda, the parliament will alter the electoral law to address gaps observed in the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
In the Legislative Agenda, which was unveiled last September, the House identified the unbundling of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create an independent body that will be saddled with the responsibility of regulation, registration, financing and functions of political parties, diaspora voting, establishment of Electoral Offence Commission to prosecute electoral offenders as priorities in the electoral reforms.
According to the document, the House will propose amendment to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on issues to address perceived shortcomings in the appointment of the INEC chairman and national commissioners. It also seeks to review the relevance or otherwise of INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners( RECs) in states.
In the aftermath of the 2023 general election, there is a consensus among stakeholders that there is need for further review of the the Electoral Act. However, there are divergent views, on what should change in the electoral act.
Former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, while speaking recently, at stakeholders meeting organized by the House on the review of Electoral Act 2022, called for the unbundling of the electoral body, as well as the proscription of carpet crossing.
Jega said: “If we truly want to improve our electoral process, there is a need to proscribe cross-carpeting by political actors. The frequency with which Nigerian politicians cross-carpet has become a big source of worry.
“A candidate will be elected on Party A platform and he gets to the office and joins Party B without first resigning and relinquishing the position he or she holds in trust for the electorate. This has destroyed the essence of our democratic ethos.”
He added: “there should be a review of how political parties field presidential candidates. Look at the number of registered political parties in Nigeria and each fielding presidential candidates but at the end of the day, only two or three score significant votes while the majority do not receive any vote.
“If we are serious about our electoral reforms, there must be a threshold for political parties to meet before fielding candidates in presidential elections. The rule must be set that parties that failed to secure a certain amount of votes would not be allowed to present presidential candidates. There must be sanity in the polity and we must get it right.
“It is not only a huge waste of human and material resources, it’s absurd to have parties that cannot win a seat in local council to field presidential candidates in a general election. The Electoral Act and INEC guidelines should be reviewed.”
On his part, the member representing Enugu South/ Enugu North Federal Constituency, Chimaobi Atu, wants INEC to be empowered to verify academic certificates tendered to it. Atu, in an interview with Daily Sun, opines that when it is proven that a candidate submitted a forged certificate, the electoral body should have the power to disqualify that candidate.
According to him, “INEC should have power to verify the certificate tendered to it. And if eventually the person forges its certificate, it should disqualify the person, irrespective of the person involved.”
Last Wednesday, the House passed one of the bills for the alteration of the Electoral Act 2022 sponsored by the member representing Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency, Delta State, Mr Francis Waive is proposing the conduct of all elections in one day, penalty for frivolous elections petitioners, as well as making electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
Waive, while leading debate on the bill, noted that the alteration of electoral law to provide “for the electronic transmission of results would help the nation’s democracy.”
Abbas says to kick start the electoral review process, the House will set up special technical committee with members drawn from the Committee on Electoral Matters, experts, academics and other stakeholders to review the Electoral Act 2022.
According to him, “the mandate of the Committee will be to review the Electoral Act 2022 and submit a proposal to the House on areas for amendment. The report of the Committee will be subjected to a public hearing to aggregate concrete suggestions for amendment.”
Nevertheless, pundits say that like in the past, the exercise might be watered down by politics. In recent times, fundamental amendment to the electoral act has always been stalled by politics in the Green chamber.
For instance, in the 8th assembly, the amendment of the Electoral Act, had been stalled by politics, as the APC and PDP squabbled over the amendment. During the consideration of the report of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, at the Committee of the Whole, members present had voted in favour of the reversal of the order of elections, which places presidential and National Assembly elections first. However, APC members had dismissed the proposal as “a PDP amendment” and vowed that it will not stand.
Though the National Assembly succeeded in amending the law, then President Buhari withheld his assent. Thrice the parliament sent the amendment to the President. Thrice Buhari refused to give assent, citing different reasons for his action each time. Efforts to override the President’s veto by the House was also stalled by politics.
Similarly, in the last assembly, proposals to make electronic transmission of result mandatory was also stalled by politics, as APC and opposition members clashed over the issue.
Regardless, the chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Akin Rotimi Jnr says things will be done differently in the current effort to review the Electoral Act. Rotimi told Daily Sun that the interest of the House is doing what is in the best interest of the country.
According to him, “things will be done differently, because this is a different assembly. And this is a different leadership. This is a leadership that is consultative. This is a leadership that takes into account consensus building because we have eight different political parties. And so far, we have cohesion and a lot of cooperation. For us, there are things that are beyond politics. Everyone is affected, in one way or the other.
“That is why you will see that the process of electoral reform even started with a session on consultation. There was a legislative consultative engagement to secure the input of critical stakeholders. So, for us, it is about consultation and doing what is best in the interest of Nigeria.”
No doubt, expectations are high that the 10th assembly will bequeath to the country an electoral law that will ensure credibility of the electoral process. Nevertheless, pundits say the ability of the parliament to rise above political considerations will make all the difference in the current effort to review the Electoral Act.
